Citation NR: 9726630
Decision Date: 07/31/97 Archive Date: 08/06/97
DOCKET NO. 96-02 552 ) DATE
)
)
On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Louis,
Missouri
THE ISSUE
Entitlement to service connection for the residuals of a
right eye injury.
REPRESENTATION
Appellant represented by: Veterans of Foreign Wars of
the United States
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD
Jeffrey M. Blankenship, Associate Counsel
REMAND
The veteran served on active duty from March 1946 until March
1948 and from March 1949 until July 1953.
This appeal arises from an October 1995 decision by the St.
Louis, Missouri Regional Office (RO) which denied the
veteran’s claim for service connection for the residuals of a
right eye injury on the basis that, although the veteran had
an injury to the right eye during service, there was nothing
to establish any chronic disability resulting from the
incident in service.
In his substantive appeal submitted in December 1995, the
veteran maintained that not all of the available medical
records were considered in denying his claim and noted that
he had received treatment from Cox’s South Hospital, where he
had surgery in 1985 and 1990. He further stated that, at the
time, doctors stated that his eye condition was an old eye
injury probably due to his injury in service. He requested
that these private treatment records be obtained and
considered in regard to his claim. There is no indication
that these records were ever requested by the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) and there is nothing in the record to
indicate that the veteran has been informed that he must
provide sufficient evidence to establish such a claimed
relationship. In addressing this issue in a similar case,
the United States Court of Veterans Appeals has stated that
“upon receipt of the hearsay statement from the veteran, the
Secretary had an obligation under section 5103(a) ‘to assist
[the] claimant[] in understanding how to file for benefits
and what evidence is required’ ... by advising him that the
physician’s statement was needed to ‘complete’ his
application.” Robinette v. Brown, 8 Vet.App. 69, 80 (1995).
In light of the above discussion, the veteran’s case is being
REMANDED to the RO for the following actions:
1. The RO should contact the veteran in
order to secure any required
authorizations to contact Cox’s South
Hospital in order to obtain legible
copies of any treatment records. All
records obtained should be associated
with the claims folder.
2. The RO should also notify the veteran
that he must present medical evidence to
support his statement that he was told by
private physicians that there was a
relationship between his eye conditions
in 1985 and 1990 and his injury to the
right eye during his military service, as
required by the Robinette case cited
above.
After completion of the above, the RO should review the
record and again adjudicate the veteran’s claim of
entitlement to service connection for the residuals of a
right eye injury. Following review, if any determination
made remains unfavorable to the veteran, a supplemental
statement of the case which sets forth the evidence received
since the most recent statement of the case should be issued
to the veteran and his representative. Thereafter, the case
should be returned to the Board for further consideration, if
in order. The purposes of this remand are to obtain
additional medical information and afford the veteran due
process. No action is required of the veteran until he
receives further notice.
MILO H. HAWLEY
Acting Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals
38 U.S.C.A. § 7102 (West Supp. 1997) permits a proceeding
instituted before the Board to be assigned to an individual
member of the Board for a determination. This proceeding has
been assigned to an individual member of the Board.
Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 1991), only a decision of the
Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States
Court of Veterans Appeals. This remand is in the nature of a
preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the
Board on the merits of your appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b)
(1996).
- 2 -